Earlier this year, the Office of Broadband Development released data and maps on broadband coverage of tribal areas. The numbers are high level or maybe more reflective than exact but it’s a great start on getting a handle on what’s happening in tribal areas. I thought I’d do a profile of each area, much like I have done for Minnesota Counties. Here is Lower Sioux Indian Community

Info on Access/Households:

• Number of households (2010 estimate): 134
• Percent Wireline Broadband 2022 speed goal (25/3): 77.12
• Percent Wireline Broadband 2026 speed goal (100/20): 68.44

In April 2017, Mediacom announced that they upgraded their customers on the Lower Sioux Reservation to their GIg access. Those upgrades are likely represented in the stats above. And looking at the map, it appears as if the served area is in Renville County, which would be RS Fiber territory.

Clearly there is work to be done in the Lower Sioux but the good news is that the broadband they have is good broadband; they are not building broadband that will only be sufficient to meet the 2022 speed goals. They appear to be moving toward the future.

The Lower Sioux was able to participate in Blandin Broadband Community (BBC) project through a partnership with Redwood County.